What "exactly" is money?

[Beekissed]

I go along with the fact that, in the end of all things, you cannot eat gold or silver. If I were to store up a metal of any kind it may be industrial strength steel or good iron for the making of tools.

Gold and silver have a value because we say it does, not because of any actual real value. Yes, it has been used for barter for many a long years and it still mystifies me....it's metal and too soft to be used for any real purpose other than where soft metals are needed and copper can serve that purpose.

In the end, food and fuel will be bartering material and "precious" metals will be just as hard to carry and defend as will food and fuel. One might as well have something you can gain some earthly good from if one is to hoard one or the other.

 

[Tallman]

I may be wrong but the point is moot. The gubmint won't be taking any gold or silver from me till after they have taken all my guns.

Yup! I'm afraid that this is what it will come to.

 

[k0xxx]

I go along with the fact that, in the end of all things, you cannot eat gold or silver. If I were to store up a metal of any kind it may be industrial strength steel or good iron for the making of tools.

Gold and silver have a value because we say it does, not because of any actual real value. Yes, it has been used for barter for many a long years and it still mystifies me....it's metal and too soft to be used for any real purpose other than where soft metals are needed and copper can serve that purpose.

In the end, food and fuel will be bartering material and "precious" metals will be just as hard to carry and defend as will food and fuel. One might as well have something you can gain some earthly good from if one is to hoard one or the other.

If our society ends up in some type of Mad Max world where there is not civilization to speak of, then gold and silver will indeed have little or no value. However, if we do not collapse into total anarchy, then the metals will retain some value as they have since the beginning of recorded history. I would like to be prepared (as much as realistically possible) for either outcome. That is why others and myself include silver and gold as a small but important part of our preps.

Personally, I don't believe that things will get to the point that we have to defend or resources, food, fuel, or other. I do believe that we may go through a very bad period when our currency becomes basically worthless, hence the small amount of metals that I own. That's my SHTF scenario and I'm sticking to it.

 

[framing fowl]

I go along with the fact that, in the end of all things, you cannot eat gold or silver.

True. However, that does not make it less valuable as a tool in the self-sufficient lifestyle. You also can't eat matches, wood or fire but they are important tools for survival. You can't eat a pot, skillet, or knife but they are important for food preps. You also can't eat a seed beyond sprouting it for food. If you want to keep your food on the hoof, you need a way to fence them in, tie them out, and process them before they are edible. You can't eat the fence, the roof over their head to keep them healthy, etc.

Gold and silver may not be a tool you chose to have or use but that does not diminish its usefulness. Many things we all use on a daily basis are not edible...

 

[Beekissed]

Ah...but all those things have a value or purpose that is pretty clear and can be used AS something other than to hold in your hand and trade for goods. When was the last time you tried to cook in a quarter? Or start a fire with a gold ring?

 

[lighthawk]

I hate to have to bring up Zimbabwe where they are currently digging in the hills desperately trying to find a gram of gold to feed their family or the Wiermar republic after world war II when they were burning wheelbarrows full of paper money because it was cheaper than firewood but history has shown that No Matter What silver and gold have always retained value. They have been the standard of value long before the time of Christ.
Put away what is important to you. If and When the bottom falls out of our currency I will be able to purchase those items for pennies on the dollar.
Like I said I can still buy a gallon of gas for a silver dime and a silver nickel. It didn't cost me anything to own it. It could concievably cost a lot not to.
I Hope none of us need it. I hope we never have to dig into our emergency food rations. I hope the gubmint pulls their head... never mind
If I do ever need it... I have some.
I am in no way telling you what to do. just giving you my best heads up. Good luck

BTW don't think that I am not a pack rat storing away many of the items you listed. I am. I have just taken another step that you may or may not feel necessary.

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

This makes me think of the cable I found this past summer, we were doing some tractor work in the back pasture and snagged up on 100 yards or so of aluminum transmission line, 1.5 inch thick. There is a high tension hydro line behind our property, it must be junk from a repair or the installation.

I meant to get it into town to sell for scrap (aluminum was high then) but now that it has tanked I might as well wait a bit. Who knows what that will be worth, even as light as aluminum is I can't hardly move the end of it manually. Might have to cut it up, not too easy to bend even enough to get into the back of a pick up.

 

[lighthawk]

This makes me think of the cable I found this past summer, we were doing some tractor work in the back pasture and snagged up on 100 yards or so of aluminum transmission line, 1.5 inch thick. There is a high tension hydro line behind our property, it must be junk from a repair or the installation.

I meant to get it into town to sell for scrap (aluminum was high then) but now that it has tanked I might as well wait a bit. Who knows what that will be worth, even as light as aluminum is I can't hardly move the end of it manually. Might have to cut it up, not too easy to bend even enough to get into the back of a pick up.

April did you mean to post this on a different thread?
"What did you do today to MAKE money" Perhaps?

 

[curly_kate]

This thread reminded me of a program I heard a couple of weeks ago. It was very interesting:

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/423/the-invention-of-money

There's a story about a financial crisis in Brazil, and the 2nd half is about the Fed. It really details how governments rely on the faith of their constituents more than anything to keep them afloat.

 

[Wifezilla]

Bee, since you can't eat precious metals, that is why they were my LAST prep, not my first.

Food stash was first, critters (ducks/quail) second, garden and seed stash was third, relearning how to can, dry, and preserve food was next, now I am putting aside metal coins.

Lighthawk is right. Many paper dollars have become worth nothing. Real metals coins always retain some value.